Fixed your quote to something I can somewhat agree with. I feel like only 2 American players I have seen get any long-lasting benefit from England were FulhAmericans: McBride and Dempsey (goalies don't count ). Time will tell on some of these youngsters in development. Just seems like there's just too much quick turnover in the English system for our players to succeed there.

BUT...if we're going to become a soccer nation, we need our own league to become the top draw.

Beasley? No, not in England. Netherlands, yes. Demerit and Boca? Meh...maybe, give you that one... a little debatable for Boca early years he kept getting pulled to the LB position and had trouble finding starts towards the end. Other than Cameron, there's not much there. Yeah, there have been other Yanks such Reyna, Harkes, etc. who had some success there but I don't consider them really improving a great deal from English experience. I really don't want to count goalies, because what makes them elite comes from reaction ability--which can only be taught up to a point.

But debating players who have or have not made it getting away from the main point that having players going to England for our country to be a soccer nation. The end of the day it's not going to happen unless the MLS rivals MLB or the NFL in terms of viewership and being the top draw of our soccer players. We will never get there unless that happens.

And I still think players would be better off trying to find a good situation (actually playing) than looking to join an English team "because they're the best league." I find it extremely debatable that, one, England has the best league and, two, produces better soccer players. And, yeah, I said the word soccer multiple times.

"Because having players and coaches who perform under the crucible of REAL pressure -- promotion, relegation, and a real desire to win regional club championships -- is important to our international future. As long as there's no penalty for failure in MLS, the players who play there will continue to be hothouse flowers. Germany, England, France, Spain -- these are the places Americans need to succeed if we're going to become a soccer nation."

And I think the proof here is the substandard play of our internationals who were blooded overseas when they came to the more relaxing atmosphere of MLS.

You keep thinking I'm against players going to Europe, I'm not saying that at all. I'm arguing whether: one, we should really care about English opinion of our players and coaches and, two, do our players get a great deal of benefit from going to England?

And having our players succeed in Europe would be wonderful, but our country still won't be a soccer nation unless MLS rivals the other major sports here. You can't claim your country to be a soccer nation if the game is outdrawn by 2 to 3 other sports by large numbers. It's caught up a lot but since when I started paying attention. But then I stopped paying such close attention.

Bob's travels are intriguing though. Sorry he inherited such a shipwreck, but from what I've been reading the defending was worse off than before and were getting drubbed. If he kept them close in more games, he might have made it to the transfer window. But right now they look we did when we had to fire 3 coaches in one season to secure relegation.

@dcheather, @HatterDon I'm sure I'm not the only one that has enjoyed reading the back and forth (great stuff!!). I found myself agreeing with both of you; improving and investing in MLS and having our best players succeed in the pressure cooker of the top leagues are not mutually exclusive. We need a mix of both to be sure.

I think we as fans have gotten used to players going overseas with varying degrees of success, but BB kind of brought us back to a time when our guys were first going over. We were so hopeful our players would go over and legitimize the US as nation that could play the sport that we needed that acceptance. Bradley is a trail blazer for managers and we want him to succeed so badly that it was painful to see Swansea getting demolished match after match. He would still be there if he had the same record, but was losing 1-0, 2-1 type games, but they were getting bombed.

Not sure if the Norway rumors have any merit, but not sure if it's something he wants to undertake. They are second from bottom in their group, and have to make up 4 points and 3 teams to get to second place (Germany is running away in that group) and a playoff spot.

@LaxAttack, I'm happy that the old dilapidated relic known as the LA Sports Arena is gone, but that area is a nightmare to get in and out of (parking/traffic). I've gone to the SC/Arizona hoops game the last two years and even with only 4 or 5K in attendance it sucked getting in there and back out. Hoping that w/the new stadium there is some decent civil engineering involved.

@LaxAttack, I'm happy that the old dilapidated relic known as the LA Sports Arena is gone, but that area is a nightmare to get in and out of (parking/traffic). I've gone to the SC/Arizona hoops game the last two years and even with only 4 or 5K in attendance it sucked getting in there and back out. Hoping that w/the new stadium there is some decent civil engineering involved.

I’m still pissed at how shabbily Swansea treated him. Although they survived under his successor Paul Clement, they’re woeful this season and are almost certain to be relegated this season. They sold their only proven scorers Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente. I hope they go down and stay down...for a very, very long time.

Bradley's men knock off Sounders 1-nil in the franchise's first ever match, despite being outshot 22-5. BB becomes the only manager to win his first two inaugural franchise road openers (Chicago Fire, '98). The goal was scored by Diego Rossi, assisted by Carlos Vela and Canadian International Mark-Anthony Kaye, who I've watched for the past two seasons playing midfield for Louisville City FC.

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In November of 2004, two guys known as ChicagoTom and AmericanMike started a joint venture to support and promote the club they loved and bring the Fulham family in the US closer together. As some members like to point out, there is no separation in the title "FulhamUSA." We love for Fulham supporters across the US and globe to feel they always have a home at FulhamUSA.